Powered tool for tube cutting and treating

ABSTRACT

A tool for power cutting and treating a tube or the like, and having a power source and an open end for receiving the tube for cutting. There are a tube cutter and rollers for rotation around the tube during cutting. A tool housing encloses the cutter and rollers and also two gear trains which can rotate at different speeds. One of the trains creates tool rotation drive and the other of the trains creates tube cutting. The rotation drive can be reversed for setting the cutter and rollers in starting positions, along with setting and presenting the open end to the next tube to be cut. The rotating gears also drive two power-take-offs for treating the tube.

This invention relates to a powered tool for tube cutting and treating,and particularly to a powered tube tool which is portable and handmanipulable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hand held powered tube cutters and treating tools are already known inthe prior art, and they are useful in, cutting tubes or pipes on thework site and in restricted spaces. For instance, U.S. Pat. No.6,065,212 discloses one such tube cutter. Other prior art cutters aredifferent from the present invention in that they do not provide forcontinuous cutter feeding, nor for automatic settings for various tubeor pipe diameters to be cut, nor for efficient constant cutter feedsystems without shock loads to the tube.

The present invention provides for a tool of a powered tube cutter whichautomatically adjusts for different diametrical sizes of tubes. Thereare self-centering guides which act to place the cutting mechanismcentered with the tube, and there is provision for visibly aligning thecutter on the tube when the tube is disposed within the tool. Further,the amount of cutting penetration for each revolution of cutting actioncan be selected, and can be altered during cutting, and there ischipless cutting of various materials, such as plastic and copper, andfor harder materials, such as steel and titanium.

The cutter has an access head, with tube guides and sighting openings,for easy application onto, and removal from, the tube, and there is arevolving head for rotation around the tube to be cut. The tool has acutting blade and tube contacting rollers which automatically andcontinuously move in unison radially toward and away from the tube.Before that radial feed mechanism is engaged, in the first portion ofthe cutting head revolution, the tool performs an automatic and quicksizing of the tube. Also, after each tube has been cut, the tool quicklyreverses rotation and automatically stops in an aligned position withthe cutting blade and support rollers retracted and thereby ready forthe next tube to be cut.

The tool has an adjustable cutter feed rate, which is useful for varyingcutting speeds and for tubes having various material hardnesses. Also,the revolutions can be accomplished through self-contained battery poweror from another power tool which readily driving connects to the tool ofthis invention. There is an automatic feed of the cutting blade into thetube, and that is achieved by a clutch acting on a feed drive where therate can be controlled by varying the torque transmitted to the feeddrive. Thus, there is a drive arrangement for moving the cutter bladearound the tube, and there also is a feed arrangement for moving thecutter blade radially inward on the tube in the cutting process. Theoperative positions for the cutting action are automatically achievedand are under the control of a single control button, for instance.

Prior to each cutting action, the tool is automatically placed in atube-receiving mode and in tube contact, and it is thusly ready to cut.After cutting, the tool automatically sets itself into a condition to beready to receive the next tube.

This tube cutter is easy to operate, it is fast in cutting completelythrough a tube, it produces a clean tube cut so that the cut edges endare smooth and circular, and it operates in close clearance locations,such as on job sites. Two gear trains are provided, one for rotationdrive and one for cutting drive, and the two speeds are different fromeach other to thereby have the cutting speed lag the drive speed andthereby cam the cutting blade into the tube upon each revolution.

The tool also has power-take-off outlets for rotationally drivingaccessory instruments, including a tube de-burring tool and a tuberotating brush. That prepares the cut tube for subsequent soldering orother operations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side perspective exploded view of the cutter tool of thisinvention.

FIG. 2 is a side perspective view similar to FIG. 1, but slightlyenlarged and with parts of FIG. 1 omitted.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 2 parts.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of assembled parts of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view of parts of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation assembly view of a portion of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a section view taken on a plane designated by the line 7-7 onFIG. 6.

FIGS. 8, 9, and 10 are a top plan views of three parts shown in FIG. 3.

FIGS. 11, 12, and 13 respectively are section views taken on planesdesignated by the lines 11, 12, and 13 respectively on FIGS. 8, 9, and10.

FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view like FIG. 3.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the clutch partof FIG. 5.

FIGS. 16 and 17 respectively are top and side perspective views of thetool of this invention with additional parts shown thereon.

FIG. 18 is a bottom perspective exploded view of FIGS. 16 and 17.

FIG. 19 is a side elevation view of another embodiment of the clutchpart of FIG. 1.

FIG. 20 is a section view taken on a plane designated by the line 20-20of FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 19.

FIG. 22 is an enlarged section view of a portion of FIG. 16 taken on aplane designated 22-22 of FIG. 16.

FIG. 23 is an enlarged top plan view of a portion of FIG. 18.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Generally, there are a tube cutting blade and supporting rollers whichengage the tube to be cut and which are automatically positioned to beconcentric relative to the longitudinal axis of the tube. Further, thetool is arranged so that a drive reverse to that of the cutting actionrotation drive will automatically open the tool for receiving the tubeand be automatically centered on the tube during tube cutting. In thisdescription, reference to up, down, top, lower, and that type oforientation simply is in reference to the orientation of the tool asshown in the drawings herein.

The cutting blade revolves centrally around the tube, and the depth ofcut for each revolution is controlled so that tubes of hard material canbe cut with one amount of cutting penetration per revolution, and tubesof softer material can be cut with another amount of penetration perrevolution. The description herein can be enhanced by reference to myU.S. Pat. No. 6,065,212.

FIG. 1 shows the tool to include two housing halves 10 and 11, and, whenassembled and suitably connected together, they present a body and headportion 12 and a handle portion 13. The operator can grip the shownhandle 13 and direct the head portion 12 onto a tube 14 which is aworkpiece and which is to be cut transverse to its longitudinal axiswhich is upright and designated A in FIG. 1. It can be understood thatthe tube 14 is already installed in a fixed on-the-job position, but theend of the tube is to be cut off.

FIG. 3 shows an assembly which has a rotation drive spur gear 16 and acutter feed assembly having a spur gear 17 and a cam or cutter controlplate 18. The gear 16, which is shown in upper and lower halves 19 and21 held together by pins 20, is driven to produce rotation of theassembly shown in FIG. 3 about its central longitudinal axis A. Thatcompound gear 16 supports and carries a rotatable circular tube cutter22. Upon rotation of the gear 16 about axis A, the cutting blade 22 willrotate in friction rolling contact with the tube 14, and, as describedlater, will radially advance into and through the wall of the tube 14.

The gear 17, like gear 16, is circular in the axial view thereof, andhas its spur teeth projecting outwardly on its teeth pitch circle, butnot in a full circle. The two halves 19 and 21 are mirror image halveswhich actually form the one gear 16, and that is the rotation drivegear, and the halves are aligned, and together they present one totalheight of gear teeth on gear 16.

That assembly of the feed gear 17, drive gearing 19, 21, and the camplate 18, in final assembly, are in stacked axial contact with eachother and are aligned by pins 23 and are rotatable relative to thehousing body 12. Thus, the housing halves 10 and 11 present cavities 24and 26 for reception of those parts and to rotatably support them. Thehousing halves have circular bearing grooves 27 and 28, and the plate 18and gear 17 have axial extending ridges 29 and 31 which respectivelymate with the grooves 27 and 28 for rotation guidance and support of thegear plate 18 and the gear 17 in what is defined as circular shoulderradial abutment or tongue-and-groove connection. The housing halves 10and 11 are secured together in abutment by screws, like screw 32.

Suitably attached to the housing body 12 are a reversible electric motor33 and an electric battery 34 for powering the motor 33 in the twodirections of rotation. An electric reversing polarity switch 35 issuitably mounted on the handle 13 and is electrically connected with themotor 33 for reversing rotation drive, when desired. The motor can beattached at 36 on the housing body 12, and the battery can be attachedat the bottom 37 of the handle 13. The motor 33 presents a rotationdrive pinion 39 which will be in spur teeth drive with a spur gear 41 inthe housing 12. Instead of the motor 33 and battery 34, there could be adiscrete power source, such as a rotation tool, which could be connectedto and which thusly rotates the gear 41. While not shown, the discretepower source can be conventional and is well known.

Gear 41 is on a shaft 42 which is suitably rotatably mounted on thehousing 12, and it should be understood that gear 41 is a worm gear intooth-driving relationship with a worm wheel 43. For drawing clarity,the worm teeth of the worm 43 are not shown herein, but it should beunderstood that they are conventional so need not be more fully shown.

A spur gear 44 is rotatably supported in a circular cavity 46 in thehousing half 10 and is mounted above the worm wheel 43 and is rotatablyconnected thereto such as by unshown pins like pin 20 extendingtherebetween. Two idler spur gears 47 and 48 are rotatably mounted onhousing posts 49 and 51, respectively, and they are in drivingrelationship with respectively diametrically larger spur gears 44 and 16to transmit rotation from the gear 44 to the gear 16. Idler gears 47 and48, are spaced apart long the circumference of the gear 16 to span gap52 in the gear 16 and thereby always have one of the idler gears indriving relationship with the driven gear 16. That gap or opening 52,which is also shown and is included in the gear 17, cam plate 18, andthe two housing halves 10 and 11 extends radially to receive the tube 14extending beyond the axis A, in the usual manner.

Gear 16 has a square radial opening 53 which receives a blade support 54which has a shaft 56, and the cutting blade 22 is rotatable on a pin 57on the support 54. The two ends of the shaft 56 are snugly received inarcuate slots 58 and 59 respectively in the gear 17 and the cam plate18. The shaft 56 also passes through a radial slot 61 in the gear 16.The support 54 is rectilinear to snugly fit in the rectilinear opening53 in the gear 16 and thereby be stable therein and firmly support thecutting blade 22. Thus there is the arrangement of the two halves 19 and21 to form the gear 16 because the manufacturing is most accurate andsimplified.

A rectilinear radial opening 62 is disposed in the gear 16 and isdiametrically opposite the opening 53 and is of the same configurationand construction. A rectilinear support block 63 is disposed in theopening 62 and is stabily snug therein and rotatably supports andpresents four rollers 64 in the gap 52 and onto the tub 14. Rotation ofthe gear 16 causes the blade 22 to cut into and through the tube andcauses the rollers 64 to roll over the circumference of the tube duringcutting. The support 63 has a shaft 66 which has its two opposite endsrespectively disposed in two arcuate slots 67 and 68 in gear 17 andplate 18. Shaft 66 also extends through a radial slot 69 in the gear 16.Rotation of the gear 17 along with the same rotation of plate 18, wherethat rotation is at a speed different from that of the rotation of gear16, will cause the shafts 56 and 66 to slide in the three respectiveslots to radially move the blade 22 and the rollers 64.

The gear 17 and the plate 18 are unified by being joined by screws 71which pass through an arcuate slot 72 in the intervening gear 16. Axialspacer 73, such as shown to be vertical in FIG. 3, is between the gear17 and the plate 18 and it freely extends through the shown slots 75 inthe gear 16, and it prevents binding of the halves 19 and 21 by thetightened screws 71. Also, the alignment pins 23 extend between the gear17 and plate 18 to assure the alignment of the arcuate slots 58 and 59and of the slots 67 and 68.

The assembly of the cutting feed gear 17, rotation drive gear 16, slotplate 18, cutting blade assembly with blade 22, and roller assembly withrollers 64, present a unit termed the cutting head assembly. Thatincludes both the rotation drive and the cutting blade feed. The spurgear drive train through the gear 44, idlers 47 and 51, and to therotation drive gear 16 can be at a rotational speed different from thatof the cutting feed gear 17. The drive between gear 16 and gear 17,which also rotates plate 18, is through the shafts 56 and 66 whichrotationally act on the radial slots 61 and 69 in gear 16, and thatrotation drive goes into the arcuate slots 58, 59, 67 and 68. Thoseslots serve as cams, and the shafts 56 and 66 serve as cam followers.

The rotation of the gear 17 and cam plate 18 is controlled by two idlergears 76 which are rotatably mounted on the housing supported posts 49and 51 and they are in tooth relationship with the gear 17 and they spanthe gap 52 in the gear 17. A command cutting feed ring spur gear 77 isrotatably mounted in the housing body 12, and is rotatably guidedtherein as with the circular ridges 31 and 29 on gear 17 and plate 18.Gear 17 is in tooth mesh with the two idlers 76. Gear 44 is also a ringspur gear, and it is the command rotation drive gear. Gears 44 and 77can be rotationally connected together to rotate in relative step witheach other, as more fully described later.

Drive gear 16 and feed gear 17 have a different total quantity of teeth80 thereon. That is, the number of teeth on gear 16 is larger than thenumber of teeth on gear 17, in this showing. That is displayed in FIG.4. Also, the command drive gear 44 has a greater number of teeth thanthat on the command feed gear 77. One example is that gear 16 could havesixty total teeth while gear 17 could have fifty-nine total teeth, andgear 77 could have fifty-one total teeth and gear 44 could havefifty-two total teeth. Those teeth numbers pertain to the full gearcircumference, including the gap portions 52, so consider all the wayaround the complete circumference of each gear for tooth counting. Thatlarger and smaller relationship between gears 16 and 17 will be imposedas larger and smaller on the gears 44 and 77. However, the larger andsmaller relationship could be reversed in the corresponding relationshipwithin and between both sets of gears, and it is only the differentialin rotation speed, that is the lost rotation motion, within each set ofthose two gears that is required. The two idler gears. 47 and 48 havethe same but correspondingly lesser number of teeth compared to thenumber of teeth on the two idlers 76, and thus all four idlersrespectively accommodate the difference of the number of teeth in thegears on their adjacent flanks, and all those teeth respectively meshwith the respective adjacent gears. The profiles of all the teeth arethe same.

The gear differences mentioned result in correspondingly different pitchdiameters of the respective gears, such as between 16 and 17 where 16 isnow shown to be of a greater pitch diameter compared to that of gear 17.As displayed in FIGS. 8 and 9, gear 17 has a pitch diameter D-1 and gear16 has a pitch diameter D-2, and that is the conventional measurement ofa gear pitch diameter for the pitch circle of a spur tooth gear, such aswith these teeth 80. That difference produces a relative rotationbetween the gears 16 and 17, with the gear 17 rotating slower that thatof gear 16, and that activates the identical amount of radialdisplacement of the cutting blade 22 and the rollers 64. That cuttingrotation is clockwise a viewed in FIG. 4.

The arcuate slots 58, 59, 67, and 68 all extend from a radial outerlocation “O” to a radial inner location “I” and they all have acurvature where that inner location is in a rotationally leadingposition on the arc with regard to the cutting rotation. That is, seeFIG. 10 and consider the clockwise cutting rotation.

Counterclockwise rotation, which the applied power is capable ofproducing upon reversing the motor 33, will reset the gears and theplate 18 to present the aligned gaps 52 in the housing halves 10 and 11and in the entire cutting head seen in FIG. 3. That opens the cuttinghead for reception of a tube 14 for the next cutting project.

The number of teeth, like their respective pitch diameters, on gears 16and 17, and also on gears 77 and 44, could be reversed in the mentionedgreater and lesser relative locations, and then the upper gears couldhave the greater number of teeth. In that event, the cam slots 58 and 59and slots 67 and 68 would be orientated in the direction to the otherside, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2, and then the rotation of the cuttinghead would be in the direction reverse from that mentioned for radialmovement of the blade 22 and rollers 64. In both larger and smaller gearteeth, and consequent pitch diameter, relationships, the onlyrequirement is that the gears have a different number of teeth, and thatis also different pitch diameters. In the gear trains shown herein, thesmaller gear 17 will rotate slower.

For further controlling the slower rotation of the feed gear 17 comparedto the rotation speed of the drive gear 16, a rotation clutch 81 isapplied to the drive gear train of the feed gear as seen in FIGS. 5, 6,and 7. The tool body 12 has an electric switch 82 which is operated byfinger pressure on a slideable bracket 83 connected to the switch 82 andit carries a shifter 84 for movement therewith. The motor 33 is thenpowered by the battery 34, or there may be any discrete external powersupply. Through the lower gear train described, the applied powerrotates the drive gear 16 in the clockwise direction, per FIG. 1. FIGS.2 and 23 show a rotation stopper 86, namely a detent, pivotally mountedon the post 49, and it has a notch 87 which receives a projection 88 onthe plate 18 to control rotation of the plate 18. An adjustment screw 89is in the housing half 10 and extends into contact with the detent 86 toprovide for limiting clockwise pivotal positioning of the pivotal detent86 about the post 49. Also, a standard compression spring is in thehousing at 91 and it urges a ball 90, as another detent, into releasablecontact with the detent 86 to allow pivoting of the detent 86 about thepost 49 and to position the detent into the FIG. 23 engaged setting.Therefore, the detent is able to pivot counterclockwise, and away fromthe screw 89 and allow clockwise rotation of the plate 18. In a limitedamount, just enough to position plate 18 in its starting position shownin FIG. 23.

The detent 86 limitly rotationally holds the plate, and thus theattached gear 17, against rotation until the cutting blade 22 androllers 64 contact the tube 14. Upon tube contact, the feed gear 17 andplate 28 will be forced to rotate around axis A at the same speed asthat of the drive gear 16. Thus, feed gear 77 will be rotated but, dueto the different number of teeth in the two gear trains, gear 77 willrotate at a different speed from that of drive gear 44. Rotation of thegear 77 will induce rotation in the clutch 81 about axis B.

Gear 77 has interior spline teeth 92 and gear 44 has interior splineteeth 93. Clutch 81 has exterior spline teeth 96 and spline teeth 97 andthe latter respectively mesh with the teeth 92 and 93, in the nature ofspline connections, as shown. The clutch 81 has cover plate 98 which isscrew-mounted on the housing 12, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 5. The entireclutch 81 has a central post 99 which is mounted on the housing 12,including the mounting in the housing opening 95 and in the opening 100on the plate 98, as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 5, and the post 99 can moveslightly up and down along its longitudinal axis B, and the clutch 81will move up and down with the post 99 to which the clutch is attachedaxially. With that up and down movement, the clutch spline teeth 96 and97 respectively engage and disengage relative to the mating spline teeth92 and 93 on gears 77 and 44. Clutch splines 92 and 93 also can rotateindependently on the post 99.

When the clutch spline teeth 96 and 97 are in their lowered positionsthey are respectively engaged with clutch spline teeth 92 and 93 ongears 77 and 44, the clutch will then rotate with the rotation of thegears 77 and 44. A control arm 101 is dependendingly connected to aplate 102 which sits on top of the clutch 81 and is piloted on the post99 to move axially thereon but to rotate therewith. The arm 101 extendsto a slot 103 which is in the trigger bracket 84 and is movabletherewith.

So movement of the trigger 83 beyond an initial movement causes motionin the arm 101 and the plate 102 about axis B. FIG. 1 shows three camprojections 104 spaced apart on the top of plate 102, and the coverplate 98 has three grooves 106 extending radially therein and in thecircular spacing as that of the projections 104. So projections 104 canbe received in respective downwardly open grooves 106 in the cover plate98, and, at that condition, the plate 102 is in its upward positionrelative to the remainder of the clutch 81. Rotation of the plate 102 bythe triggering action causes projections 104 to be moved out of theirgrooves 106, and the projections then contact the underneath planarsurface 107 of the plate 102 to thereby press the plate 102 downwardonto the upper surface 108 of the clutch 81. That produces the splineengagements mentioned above.

The spline teeth 96 are integral with an upper pressure plate 109, andspline teeth 97 are integral with a lower pressure plate 111. FIGS. 6and 7 show the plates 109 and 111, and they are mounted on a flangedsleeve 113 which will actually bottom out in lowering by having itslower surface 112 engaging a portion 114 of the housing half 10. Thereis a friction insert 116 between the two pressure plates, and there is aflat spring 117 between the upper plate 109 and a washer 118 for urgingthe plates toward each other for friction drive therebetween. A washer118 and a snap ring 119 hold the assembly together in the downdirection. So there can be rotation slippage, as mentioned above, ineach revolution, and that amount of slippage is determined by thefriction action of the pad 116. Maximum slippage is equal to the angularequivalent of the difference in the number of gear teeth. For example,if there is one tooth difference in a sixty tooth gear, the angularequivalent is six degrees.

After the tube 14 is completely cut, the operator will release extensionbracket 83 of the shifter 84 causing retraction of the shifter againstthe compression force of a spring plunger at 121. That will cause arm101 to rotate cam plate 102 back to its latched position with thegrooves 106, under the axial force of the unshown spring at 114 actingupwardly on the sleeve 113. That will disconnect the command drive gear44 from the command feed gear 77. Then, upon reversing motor 33 byshifting polarity there will be reverse rotation of command drive gear44 and of drive gear 16. That will cause cutting blade 22 and rollers 64to move radially outwardly to the outer ends of their respective slots,while feed gear 17 and cam plate 18 will be rotationally draggedcounter-clockwise. When projection 88 on cam plate 18 rotates to latchwith the detent 86, rotation will be stopped by the detent 86 and thefive gaps at 52 will all be aligned, and thereby open, for the next tubereception and cutting action.

To avoid damage to the motor 33 when detent 86 abruptly stops rotation,the electric current monitoring circuit should be integrated in theswitch reverse position. Mechanical solution for this is shown in FIGS.18 and 23.

When clutch 81 is not engaged for its subsequent firm rotation drivetherethrough, the blade 22 and roller 64 move radially inward to contactthe tube 14. When tube cutting is to occur, because gear 17 is smallerthan gear 16, gear 17 will rotate slower than gear 16 and that willcreate the radial movement of the blade 22 and rollers 64. Engagement ofthe clutch 81 will produce that drag. That produces a rotation lostmotion between the gears 16 and 17 for the desired radially inwardmovement of the blade 22 and the rollers 64.

FIG. 15 shows an adjustable torque clutch where spring compression andfriction force can be achieved by an adjustable nut 126 on the upper endof a now modified sleeve 113 which is modified to threadedly receive thenut 126. A set screw 127 can be applied to the nut 126 and the modifiedsleeve 113 to secure the nut 126 in a selected tightened threadedposition, all in an understandable arrangement.

FIGS. 16, 17, 18, and 22 show the tool with an infinitely adjustableclutch system, mechanical prevention of the motor overload when the toolis reversed, and power output sockets for driving accessories such asthe shown tube deburring cone and cleaning brush. The cone can fitinside the tube, and the brush can have an axial opening 115 forreceiving the tube for exterior brushing. The clutch system 81 now hasan adjustment knob 128 on the outside of the housing and bearing againsta flat spring 129 for mounting of the knob 128 aligned on a fixedthreaded shaft 131 which can be keyed to the housing 10 by use of keyslots 125 and 130, in the shaft and in the housing, and with aconventional unshown intervening key. There is a modified clutch whichpresents the friction force between the gears 44 and 77. A stack ofshaft flat friction plates 132, mounted on sleeve 113 which is attachedto connecting gear 97 which has its spline teeth mate with command gear77 spline teeth, is sandwiched between shaft pressure plates 133,suitably rotatable on the shaft 131, and gear pressure plates, suitablyrotatably connected with the command drive gear 44. Pressure plate tangs134 can make the rotation connections with the spline grooves, as shown.

Actuator plate 102 will move down effecting clutching connection betweengears 77 and 44, as mentioned. The amount of friction pressure and thusthe torque transmitted, and thus the cutting feed rate is fullyadjustable by the knob 128. So the changing of the feed rate can be madewhile cutting. FIG. 22 shows enlarged detail of the friction pressureplates and their arrangement.

Again, upon depressing the tool trigger, actuator plate 98 will movedownward pushing command gear 77 with spline gear 96 downward intoengagement with connecting gear 97, and clutching gears 44 and 77together, as previously mentioned. Now knob 128 can be employed toadjust the amount of torque to be transmitted for cutting.

FIGS. 16, 17, and 18 show a housing window 141 on the housing top andextending through the housing halves 10 and 11 to expose the toolinterior. Unseen, but should be understood, a transparent piece existsin the top window to cover it while permitting viewing of the toolinterior. The tube 14 can have a cutoff mark 142 placed thereon, and thetubes and tool can then be relatively positioned to have the mark 142aligned with the cutting blade 22 for accurate length cutting. Ofcourse, the plane of the blade 22 is aligned with the window 141 andwill have been rotated to be positioned adjacent the window 141. Thegaps 52 would then have been aligned with the mark 142 for viewing intothe tool.

FIGS. 17 and 18 show housing aligned side windows 146 and 147 withalignment guides 148 and 149 slideable in the two matching openings 146and 147 in the housing. Thus two pairs of opposed halves 148 and 149 arein the openings 146 and 147 on both of the respective housing halves 10and 11. The guides are thin but sturdy plates in movable pieces 148 and149 and are movably mounted in slide slots on the housing flanking therespective window openings, and in a pair on each side of the housingfor sliding movement toward and away from each other, and thus radiallytoward and away relative to the tube axis A. A Springs 150 abut theguides 148 and 149 to urge the guides toward the axis A and snug withthe tube 14. Each guide has a V-shape 155 for nesting with the trappedtube 14 and thereby hold the tool and the tube 14 relative to eachother.

FIGS. 16, 17, 18, and 23 show a power-take-off system integrated on thetool. Cone 151 and brush 152 are rotatably supported and driven by thepower of the tool for respective deburring and brushing of tubes. FIG.18 shows that motor 33 suitably rotates miter gear 153 and pinion gear154 which is rotatably centered on a shaft 156 and rotates spur gear166. A housing interior pivotal bracket 157 is also on the shaft 156,and it can pivot left and right about shaft 156, as viewed in FIG. 23,and it rotatably carries idler spur gear 158 which drives and is on arotatable mounting shaft 159 on bracket 157. As seen in FIG. 23, theinterior of shaft 159 has a female hex shape 160 which is respectivelyexposed to both sides of the housing exterior in the FIG. 23 pivotedposition, and is axially aligned with two housing side openings, such asopening 165 in FIG. 18, for reception of mating hex shafts such as thatwhich are on the cone 151 and on the brush 152 for respective andsimultaneous rotation drive connections. For acceptable clarity in thedrawing, the gears 166 and 158 are shown only in dotted lines as theyare the gears that are added to the previous showings. Gear 166 isalways in driving contact with idler gear 158.

A lever 161 is pivotally mounted on a housing post 162 to be on theexterior of the housing 10, and it is shown to have a square shape 163at the housing interior and on the same plane as that of the bracket157. The square shape presents a corner, as shown, to the edge 164 ofthe bracket 157 to thereby pivot the bracket 157 leftward, as in theshown pivoted position. So pivoting of the lever 161 will pivot thebracket 157 and thus shift the idler 158 between alternate engagementwith the gear 166 and command drive gear 44. Different drivenaccessories, such as cone 151 and brush 152, can be mounted in theopenings 165, as desired.

A compression spring 164 is suitably effective on the bracket 157 toyielding urge the idler 153 into engagement with the gear 44. Uponshifting the lever 161 to its shown position, that will interrupt thecutting drive. After the cutting is done and the tool is placed in thereverse mode, as explained, to avoid any damage to the motor after thecutting head is abruptly stopped, the idler gear 158 will pop out oftooth engagement and that moves bracket 157 back against the spring 167.That replaces an electronic monitoring circuit disclosed earlier.

On the cutting head stack of FIGS. 1 and 11, 12, and 13, the severalgears 16 and 17 and the slate 18 are all held in one steady stack byhave sliding circular radial shoulders 171 and 172, in snug contact witheach other, and having shoulders 173 and 174 in snug contact. They alsosequentially contact each other axially in their stacked relationship,as indicated. So the head is aligned radially, and those several piecesabut axially, all for close guidance of the several parts relative toeach other in a unitized stack.

While specific embodiments are shown and described, it will be apparentto one skilled that changes can be made therein, and the scone of thisinvention should be determined by the appended claims.

1. In a powered workpiece cutter having a housing (10, 11); circularly shaped compound spur gear (16) and feed spur gear (17) having gear teeth (80) projecting thereon and being rotatably mounted in said housing about a common axis (A), said compound and feed spur gears being included in respective gear trains; a motor (33) mounted in said housing for rotating said compound and feed spur gears, said housing and said compound and feed spur gears each having a gap (52) extending therein and all said gaps being alignable together in only one direction viewed parallel to said axis for reception of a workpiece (14) in the aligned said gaps; said compound and feed spur gears having cam slots (61, 69, 58 and 67); cam follower shafts (56 and 66) connected to said compound and feed spur gears through said cam slots for rotatably driving said feed spur gear (17) in relationship with said compound spur gear (16); a cutting blade (22) supported by said cam follower shaft (56); and rollers (64) supported by said cam follower shaft (66), said blade and said rollers projecting into said gaps for engagement of and cutting of said workpiece upon applying said rotation of said feed spur gear (17) at a rotation speed different from the rotation speed of said compound spur gear (16) and thereby move said cam follower shafts in said slots and radially of said axis, the improvement comprising: said compound spur gear (16) and feed spur gear (17) have spur gear tooth pitch diameters (D-1, D-2) in respective lengths extending through said axis and diametrically across said gears, said length of said pitch diameter (D-1) of said feed spur gear (17) being different from the said length of said pitch diameter (D-2) of said compound spur gear (16) so that the feed spur gear (17) rotates at a rotation speed different from the rotation speed of said compound spur gear, wherein said two gear trains each include a plurality of gears, each gear train includes said compound spur gear (16), said feed spur gear (17), a command drive gear (44) and a command feed gear (77) of pitch diameters different from one another, and a clutch (81) rotationally connected with said two gear trains for rotationally connecting said command drive gear (44) and said command feed gear (77) together so that the rotation speed of said compound spur gear (16) is different than the rotation speed of the feed spur gear (17).
 2. The powered workpiece cutter, as claimed in claim 1 including: a friction member (116) included in said clutch for providing operational friction drag controlling rotation action transmitted through said clutch, and a moveable adjuster operative on said friction member for altering the operational friction drag of said friction member to thereby control the relative rotation speeds of said command drive gear (44) and said command teed gear
 77. 3. The powered workpiece cutter, as claimed in claim 1, wherein: said pitch diameters of said command drive gear (44) and said command feed gear (77) are different from each other in the same respective relationship as said pitch diameters (D-1 and D-2) of compound spur gear (16) and feed spur gear (17). 